Often, when we come across ideas in literary words, we see their applicability in the world around us. That is what makes literature universal in its entirety: we read not only to lose ourselves, but also to find answers to the questions we harbor inside of us. Some ideas comfort us, beckon us to come hither, whilst others push us away and challenge us to think beyond the norms of our society. In both Part 3 works studied, The Bride Price and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Buchi Emecheta and Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, respectively, the reader is able to identify both groups of ideas relayed through various literary elements. Both novels bring to light conflicts between the protagonist and aspects of their society, as well as with themselves and their inner peace, dealing also with rigid social structures and the juxtapositions of free will versus fate. As such, through the authors’ use of symbolism, setting, and characterization, amongst other literary devices, we as readers are confronted by the notion that we can control our destinies to a certain extent while being challenged to empathize with the characters and to imagine ourselves in the worlds they have created, which are again, worlds apart from our own. The universality of these ideas comes from the fact that despite the peculiar idiosyncrasies of each sub-culture, very similar themes can be identified in vastly different physical settings.

The Bride Price by Nigerian author Buchi Emecheta is a story of a young girl, Aku-nna, whose life changes after her father dies, as she has to move back from Lagos to Ibuza, which are cultural opposites of one another. From the beginning of her time in Ibuza, a much more traditional town than Lagos, the culture “was such an unfortunate conglomeration of Nigerian and European customs that you ended up not knowing to which you belonged” (Emecheta 29). The author’s use of characterization through actions and a lack of speech reveals the role of women in society: “She shed silent tears at the uncertainty of it all” (47). This creates a sense of claustrophobia for the reader through the character’s inability to express her feelings and acts as a foreshadow of what is to come in the rest of the novel. The theme of repression and how strict societal hierarchies can be detrimental to individual members within society is prominently displayed, and is an idea with which many readers may no have experience with firsthand. This sets up the tone for Emecheta’s continued exposure of radical ideas in the perspective of the society and traditions in The Bride Price.

In addition, The Bride Price contains irony that parallels the ethos of those in Nigerian subcultures, as well as the shift in the readers’ disposition. It is claimed at the beginning of a chapter that “we are all equal in the sight of the Lord,” yet it is later shown that for the daughter of a free man to marry the son of a slave is considered an abomination (45). The parallel comes in the fact that the readers is at first comforted by the allusion to religion and a religious figure with whom they may be familiar, yet they are simultaneously baffled by the forbidden nature of Aku-nna and Chike’s relationship. To put the reader in such a precarious position would mean that they can easily be challenged, and are done to such in both literary works studied.

Although the unfamiliar setting in 1950’s Nigeria in both Lagos and Ibuza may contain inherent discomfort for the readers, they are able to find solace in the fact that an eminent display of inner peace and free will are displayed. This brings to light the universality of the human condition’s incredible ability to make do with the most repressive conditions if they can learn to be satisfied with what they have. Aku-nna’s daughter, Joy, is a symbol of hope and inner peace, and that message is not lost amongst readers in the frenzy at the end of the novel. Aku-nna’s death in childbirth is in part due to love and in part die to her unsuccessful acquiring of a rightful bride price. The baby shows that happiness and contentment can live on long after the individual has passed away. In addition, Aku-nna’s optimistic and grateful speech on her deathbed reveal how she has chosen and been able to have a fulfilling, albeit short life, regardless of external circumstances. “You have made me so happy” Aku-nna says to Chike. Her fearless and grateful tone serve to show the readers that one can be content if only one has the will to be, and urges the readers to find their own happiness.

This idea is reflected in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, where religion also plays a significant role. Alyoshka, a devout Baptist and supporting character, urges Ivan Denisovich Shukov, the protagonist, to “pray properly.” He finds comfort in having religion as a refuse from the harsh conditions of the hard labor camp (Gulag), with his bible being a symbol of that refuge. On the other hand, the setting actively works to alienate both the characters in the novel and the readers through “the hole” and through the cold as a physical manifestation of the manner with which the prisoners are treated. The “hole” is a solitary confinement prison cell where the prisoners are thrown if they have been found guilty of the infraction of any rules. The vivid imagery created by the author’s use of figurative language and the sense of fear created by Shukov’s actions once he is threatened with time in there perpetuates the idea that physical isolation only strengthens one’s sense of emotional and spiritual detachment. As a result, he has stopped writing letters to his family and even denies Tzesar’s (a fellow prisoner) packages: “people imagine that the package a man gets is a sort of nice, tight sack that he has only to open and be happy. But if you work it out, it’s a matter of easy come, easy go.” The repetitive use of the term “easy” mirrors the circular structure of Shukov’s “three thousand, six hundred, and fifty three days (with the three extra days being for leap years” in prison. The effect on the reader is to create a sense of the inability to escape this microcosm of communism in Soviet Russia and to encourage them to question the purpose of their own actions and routines.

On the other hand, the fact that friendships are formed in the most physically strenuous conditions of a hard labor camp in Siberia only emphasizes the notion that we are indeed in control of our free will. This is again supported by both Alyoshka and Shukov’s satisfaction with less worldly pleasures than those outside of the prison. In addition, Fetuykov, an incorrigible beggar, acts as Shukov’s foil in order to show their many different paths that can be taken even when we all start at the same beginning. Despite this, the reader is further alienated by a loss of identity and individuality, which itself is mirrored by the structure of the novel and its organization.

In One Day, Solzhenitsyn purposely does no divide his novel into chapters. This beings a sense of discomfort to the readers as it only emphasizes the unending nature of one day in the labor camp and his stylistic choice of focusing solely and in detail on one character demonstrates his attempt to place us in Shukov’s shoes. Furthermore, this loss of identity is perpetuated through the use of a numbering system for prisoners. For a group of people to be called Gang 104 and for them to wear numbers is to dehumanize them completely. As such, we are further detached from the characters and thus cling dearly to those whose feelings and emotions we are able to experience. We find comfort in this because we aim to empathize with those whose experiences we have never actually shared.

Both The Bride Price and One Day contain ideas concerning the inability to free oneself from social norms and traditions. Whilst both deal with these harrowing and challenging ideas, each deals with them in greatly varying ways: The Bride Price with gender roles and One Day with the roles of prisoners in society. In The Bride Price, a woman is so clearly shown as inferior that “her mother was only a woman and women were supposed to be boneless.” As such, the transpiring of an even so unfathomably unacceptable in our society is considered acceptable in their, bringing to mind moral and ethical questions. Solzhenitsyn’s use of a Russian peasant as a wrongfully convicted prisoner defies social norms of his time and serves as a call to actions against these archaic traditions and structures.

As both novels contain both outright and underlying political messages, with Buchi Emecheta writing of a subject personal to her culture whilst also being seen in other cultures and Solzhenitsyn first publishing his novel in a literary magazine right after the end of Stalin’s regime, it is without a doubt that there will be ideas that damn and provoke us to reconsider our own discourse. However, the satisfaction each protagonist has with his our her situation, with Shukov proclaiming “a say without a cloud. Almost a good a day” reflect the same sentiments of Aku-nna right before her death and allows us, too, to feel happiness and joy. We are comforted by the idea that even when we are unhappy, there are still other scenarios that could be even worse. In One Day, the lack of bread as a symbol of nourishment also conveys the importance of learning to be happy with what we have, and this had been shown in The Bride Price as well.

Through the author’s use of characterization, setting, figurative language, irony, and other literary features, they have been able to rely message that at once frighten us and give us comfort in the fact that something can be done through free will to stop these discriminating and punishing actions. The irony lies in the idea that those aspects of the novel that may comfort us may be what terrify the characters themselves. For example, we may want to truly understand and know Shukov, but to him, it may mean punishment and deliberate alienation by the guards. This only serves to show how important perspective is in determining the ways in which the reader is either comforted or challenged by the ideas in the literary works of Buchi Emecheta and Alexandr Solzhenitsyn.

Literature is timeless. Whether written 50 years ago or 50 days ago, certain ideas within the work will resonate for the reader, as even though our world evolves, there are detain values and consequences which remain at its very core. Through Emecheta’s and Solzhenitsyn’s works, it has been revealed that we are impacted by the words we read on pages, and that they can serve as stimulants for change, and for a step towards a brighter, more accepting future. Until then, as what we read is a reflection of our world as well, we will come face to face with ideas that challenge us and encourage us to take the action that we must find within ourselves at the urge of empathy for the characters whose experiences we may have never shared, but whose ethos and beliefs we have certainly comes across in our lifetime.